The Last Blue Tree on Oreo Avenue
by Sophisticated.Simplicity
Summary: Edward spends the day with his daughter


_**The Last Blue Tree on Oreo Avenue**_

**Rated: K for some hardcore fluff**

** A/N: Impossible? Probably. **

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! (Except for my OC) **

The sky was thick with clouds and mist, a slight breeze ruffling the branches of trees. The sound of leaves slipping together was akin to a conspiratorial whisper, and if it was, indeed, the hushed communication of trees, it most likely concerned the events currently unraveling in the Cullen home.

"And_ what _is it exactly that you propose we do, love? You're always nagging about how boring it is out here." Edward stood tall in the doorway of their home in New Hampshire, watching as his wife fastened the snaps on their daughter's black jacket.

Some sun filtered through the dense clouds and on to Bella's skin, which shimmered like diamonds as her nimble fingers worked each button through it's hole.

"Well," She said patiently, now tying on the five year old's shoelaces "I think that you and Meadow can find something to do by the creek while I study for midterms. As much as I love you two, I can't have any noise while I'm working. It is my first year back at Dartmouth, after all."

Edward nodded in understanding, placing his hand on Meadow's head and stroking her dark russet hair. The ebony pea jacket threatened to swallow the pale slip of a girl whole, but still she held her chin above the collar.

"Ready to go, daddy?" She asked, her voice sounding like the soft tinkling of wind chimes " The sun's come out, a little bit. We should go now."

"It's freezing out, Edward, don't let her into the water. Her toes nearly fell off the last time."

"I promise, love."

"Don't you leave your father's sight, you hear me, Meadow?" The girl mumbled a response, mostly to her shoes. "Meadow Rosalie Esme Alice Elizabeth Cullen, I don't have enough energy to say your full name twice. You promise to stay where Edward can see you, and don't take off your jacket or boots."

"Yes, ma."

"That's a girl." Bella smiled and kissed the top of Meadow's head. "Have fun, you two."

Meadow walked a few paces behind Edward, placing her shoes in the imprints his made in the wet grass. She took wide, awkward steps and chatted as she went, completely oblivious to the world around her.

This gave Edward ample time to study his daughter, who could easily pass as a year younger than she was. Her eyes, trained with intense focus on the footprints, were a deep glassy blue with flecks of gray and green- he could have sworn he saw them flash red once, during an intense tantrum, but Bella had assured him that it was only his imagination getting away with him.

When the small amounts of sun hit her skin, it did not sparkle or shimmer. Rather, it was slightly luminescent- as if she was standing under a stream of bright moonlight.

As she chattered, her cheeks flushed prettily and her lumbering footsteps grew more and more energetic, until she was right next to Edward, smiling up at him.

"Today a fifth grader told me I was the prettiest girl in school." Meadow confided "He says everybody thinks so, even though I'm only five. I tell them I'm going to be six in a month, but he says it won't matter. I'll still be pretty."

"Oh?" This didn't surprise Edward, as even Meadow's kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Howard, had commented on her haunting beauty.

'It's almost like she...glows, sometimes. It's astounding, people staring at her all the time, especially boys. You'd better watch out, Mr. Cullen, by the third grade she'll be beating them off with a stick.'

"Yeah, but I don't like none of 'em. I already decided who I'm gonna marry."

"Really? Who?"

"Adrian Powell." He tried to put a face to the name, remembering all the times he had picked her up from kindergarten when she had enthusiastically pointed out all of her friends.

"The black haired boy you sit next to?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna marry him, I swear it."

"Ah. And when do you plan to do this?"

"Well, _I _dunno, daddy. When we're older."

"How much older?"

"Gosh,_ I _dunno. Forty-Five, I think."

"Forty-five?"

"And a month."

"Are me and mom invited to the wedding?"

"Don't be _silly, _daddy! Of course you are."

Edward nodded and smiled, commenting that the creek was just through that thicket. Meadow immediately burst into full speed (which was quite fast) and dissipated through the trees in a matter of moments, with Edward following close behind.

By the time he arrived into the creekside, Meadow was already wrestling out of her boots and preparing to wade into the shallow water.

"Hey, Moony, what did mom say?

"Just for a minute, daddy. I'll get out straightaway." She looked up at him with pleading eyes, and he suddenly felt all control over this discision slipping into her tiny hands.

"Okay, Moon, but only for a minute." Meadow squealed and hopped into the shallow water, fluttering about like a fish on land.

Edward reflected on her child like joy, and the fact that he and Bella hadn't been there for at least a year of this.

She was changed when Meadow was three, and although the fact that her daughter was part vampire eased the need to 'eat' her considerably, Bella insisted that she be taken away for her first year.

Edward stayed with her, and Carlisle and Esme took care of Meadow. She did not question about her parents' whereabouts when they returned, only expressed joy that they were back, and the subject was dropped.

"We made family trees yesterday in class." She commented passively, attempting to scoop up a water minnow with cupped hands. "I coloured mine blue."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I guess our fam'ly just is a blue kind of thing."

"I see where you're coming from."

"And, and when Mrs. Howard told us all to put down the place that we lived, I said Oreo Avenue. 'Cause I'd like to live there, I think."

"Who did you put on the tree?"

"You, and mum, and Aunt Rosalie and Alice, and Uncle Emmett and Jasper, and Nana and Papa Cullen and Nana and Papa Swan and Santa Claus."

Edward suppressed a laugh, but instead motioned for Meadow to get out of the creek. She did, toes turning blue and shivers wracking her body like mini earthquakes.

"Bella's going to kill us both, Moony." He said as he laced up her boots and picked her up, letting her snuggle into his jacket. Meadow didn't seem to listen, just sighed and buried her face into Edward's lapels.

"My toeses are cold." She confessed lightly, wriggling them in her boots.

"I bet." He felt a warm wave of affection for his daughter at that moment, looking at her cold form molded against his side. Edward shook his head in loving disbelief "I bet."


End file.
